Airplane gas tank and method of making same



S. J. BAUM' AIRPLANE GAS TANK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Nov. 17

Filed Aug. 25. 1924 4 Sheets-sheaf 1 J/(orwey I 17,1925. v S. J. BAUM AIRPLANE GAS TANK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 25. 1924 Hei i...

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Say/770w" [Baa/m I I Nov. 17 1925. v

5. J. BAUM AIRPLANE GAS TANK AND MET HOD OF MAKING SAME Fi'ied Aug. 25 1924 S ymoanffim/m J aver/11 9 Nov. 17 l 1925. 1,562,074

s. J. BAUM AIRPLANE GAS TANK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 25. 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 I Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

citizen of the United States, residing at Improvements in SEYMOUR J. Baum, orrncsnme, NEW YORK.

AFRPIJANE GAS TANK A ND METHOD OF MAKING- SAME.

Application filed A ugust'25, 1924. Serial No. 733,869.

To all whom it may-concern Be it known that I, SEYMOUR J. )BAUM, a

Flushing, Queens County, Statev of New York, have invented certain new and useful Airplane Gas Tanks and Methods of Making Same; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art appertains to make and use the same. b

This invention relates to airplane gas tanks and the method of making the same, and has for its principal object to provide such tanks with'bafile plates or partitions in such a manner that there is no welding whatsoever of the battle plates and no openings or perforations in the walls of the tank such as would be necessary in welding or riveting the baflie plates in position.

.A further object-of the invention is to prevent the creation of any comparatively soft sections in the walls of the tank such as would ordinarily result from any welding or riveting of the baffle plates, thereby preventing any tendency of a tearing of the walls of the-tank adjacent the welding or riveting, andthe danger of corrosion of the walls of the tank at such soft sections.

A still further ob'ect of the invention is to provide an exceedingly strong and durable tank of this description, in which the bafile plates are not liable to break or rattle around.

A still further object of the invention is to prevent the corrugations in the tank from flattening out or becomin distorted.

And finally the invention aims to provide communication between the compartments formed by the bafiie plates, in. such a manner that, whatever may be the maneuvers of the airplane, these communications will al ays function. I -The accompanying drawings, illustrate the invention in its preferred form and also certain modifications thereof, and form a part of this application, and are to be"considered in connectionwith the description and claims.

In the di'a\vings Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating an airplane gas tank constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective interior end view of the body of the tank with the plates in position and without the end covers.

to which it Figure?) is an outside perspective view of one of the end covers. I

Figure 4 is afperspective view of the preferred form of baflie plate.

Figure 5 is a section at the line 5-5 of Figure 1. v

Figure 6 is a section at the line 6-6 of Figure. 1. i I 'Figure7 is a detail fragmentary sectional elevation of the resilient lip portion shown at Figure 6 in juxtaposition with respect to its channel in the wall of the main body of the tank and showingparticularly the fact that the curve of this lip has a greater radius than that of the curve of the channel.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 but illustrating the close conformation of the lip to the channel when the baflie plate is forced into position.

Figures 9 and 10 are'siinilar to Figure"? and illustrate the combination; between the lip of the baflle plate and different forms of channels. Figure 11 is likewise a 'view similar to Figure 7 and showing a form of channel within the tank body which'has a comparatively narrow neck portion, whilethe lip of the-baflie plate is similarly formed.

Figure 12 isalso similar to Figure 7 but it shows a rib curved in cross section, and extending inwardly instead of outwardly while the lip of the baffle plate extends latcurved so as to be conformable erally and is to the wall of the channel and in this instance the curve of the baflie lip would be formed from a radius less than thatof the curve of the rib.

Figure 13 hows a fragmentary section of a tank body provided with a channel within which the rectangular edges of a' bafile plate are located,

then contracted and pinched against the bafiie plate so as to present the appearance illustrated at Figure 14.

Fi ure 15 i a d tail perspective view of the walls of' the, channel being a ba e plate-structure having a cross partition secured thereto, and a Figure16 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing this construction properly located within the tank body.

Similar numerals of reference denote like V parts inthe several figures of the drawing. Bailie plates or partitions in an airplane ,gas tank are quite desirable, not only in very rapidly from one end of the tank to order to prevent the gasoline from flowing the other when the airplane is maneuvered,

' but also to prevent the sloshing ofa considerable body of gasoline against the walls of p the tank and thereby subjecting these walls a to severe strains.

Heretofore, baffle plates have been secured within a gasoline tank out since it is Quito impossible to perform any welding at the inside of the tank, these bathe plates have been provided with portions that. extend through the walls of the tank and are welded or riveted thereto, but this welding or riveting invariably creates soft sections in walls of the tank immediately adjacent the weld or rivet, thereby weakening the tank at these locations, and also necessitating considerable labor and expense.

According to the present invention, the body of thetank is formed with suitable channels extending from end to end on opposite sides of the tank, an end cover then I being conformably fitted within one end of the tank and welded thereto and the baffle plates merely inserted in position, after which the other end cover is conformably lowing description will be likewise limited.

1 is the tank body which has within the i opposite face walls channels 2 there being in I channels 7 that correspond exactly with the.

the present instance two pairs of these channels, because in the tank shown there are but two ba-fiieplates to be used, and the body of the tank has strengthening corrugations 3 located throughout the area of bothfaces of the body, but thesecorrugations have nothing to do with the present invention itself but are merely referred to incidentally.

The end covers are both exactly alike, and in the present instance are shown inserted within the ends of the tank body. Oneof these covers 4; is illustrated at Figure 3 and its upper and lower rims 5, 6, are formed into channels a and corrugations I that conform exactly to the corresponding channels and corrugations in the upper and lower faces of the body 1, so that when these covers are applied within the ends of the tank they will fit the same snugly in all respects, and right here it might be as well to state, that after these covers are in position their outer edges are flush with the outeredges of the tank, and these edges are then welded together. I

The covers have formed within their faces chanri e ls 2 in the tank body, and when the covers are in position, these'channels 7 will tenants sides and ends resilient lips 9, 10. The 7 channels 2 and the lips 9 are curved, but in cross section the radius of the lips is greater the radius of the channels, so that when these baffle plates are inserted endwise and forced within the body of the tank the lips will slightly contract so as to iit the channels snugly.

In forming the tank, one of the end covers is first placed in position and welded, and when the bafiie plates are inserted within the tank body as just described, the end lips 10 will readily contract when they are forced within the channels I and will therefore fit these channels snugly. After one of the end covers and the bafie plates have been applied in the manner described, the remaining end cover is forced into position so that its channels 7 will be snugly conformed against the adjacent lips 10 of the baiiie plates and this cover is then welded into position.

The entire structure is composed of sheet metal that is rendered exceedingly strong by reason of the suitably located corrugations, as well as by the channels themselves with which the baflie plate lips cooperate, and the conformation of the upper and lower rims of the covers with the channels and corru gations in the tank bodygreatly reenforces said channels and corrugations and is a precaution as against the flattening out or collapsing of any of the channels orcorrugated parts? Particularly is this true of the construction' shown at Figure 11 which would add greatly to the strengthof the tank body and which would be utilized in some instances.

' It will thus be noted that, by following out the present invention, an airplane gas tank has been produced in which the battle plates are securely positioned without any welding or riveting operation whatsoever except that which is performed against the flush edges of the tank and covers at the ends of the structure, and therefore there are no notably weak parts in the formation of this body such as would be the case if riveting or welding had been resorted to in order to secure the baffle plates themselves. It will also be noted that, at the corners of the bafile plates, there are cut away portions which separate the side lips from the end lips,

and when the baffle plates are in posit-ion withinthe tank body these cut away portions will afford openings 11 whereby the gasoline may flow from one compartment to another, and as these openings are located at all four corners of the baflie plate structure it will be clear that the gasoline can flow back and forth between the compartments irrespective of the maneuvers of theairplane novelty that it is not limited to the precise nel as shown at structure of the baflie plates with lips and the channels heretofore described and illustrated in detail at Figures 7 and 8, since'the tank .body 2 may be equipped with a -substantially rectangular channelas shown at- 9, an inverted V-shaped chan- 12 in Figure 13 in Figure 10, or a channel 14 with a contracted neck portion 15 as shown at Figure 11, in which latter instance the baflle' plates would be formed with an offset circular lip 16 which is resiliently contractible, and when it is contracted and inserted within the channel 14 1t would expand and fit the channel snugly.

At Figure 12 the tank bodv instead of having a channel is provided with a corfqo responding depressed portion 17 in the closely conforms to the portion .baflie plate is inserted within the tank'body.

natureof arib circular in cross section, and the baffle plate has a lateral offset lip 18 which is curved in cross sectio and which 17 when the because,the radius of the part 17 is slightly greater than that of the lip 18.

Referring to Figures 13 and 14, the tank body-is formed with shallow channels 19, and a rectangular bafiie plate 20 is 'forced into these channels, at Figure13, and the walls of the latter are then pinched against the plates as at Figure 14, and as this method is also carried out with respect 1 to the end covers, it will be apparent that the battle plates may be secured without providing them with the resilient lips. This formv of baflle plate may be cut away at the corners (not shown) in order to providethe openings for the flow of gasoline from one compartment to another. p

In some airplane gas tanks, cross-partitlons are advisable, iniaddition to-the baflie plates, and this invention is most'adaptable to this construction.

Referring particularly to Figures 15 and 16, the tank body is povided with corrugatidns 21 in its opposl e sides, and also with corrugations 22 in the left, lower corner portion23,

A cross partition 24 is shown at Figure 15 composed of sections25, 26, and 27 that are secured to the baflie plates at a suitable locationbywelding or rivetlng, in' the present instance byrl'vetmg,

and the upper and lower edges of these sectlons are formed with resilient lips 28, and resilient lips 29,

When the structure shown at Figure 15 in the manner just' deand equipped v scribed, is inserted within the tank body, the

' lips 28 will yield resiliently and will there fore maintain close contact with'the various corrugations in the upper andlower faces I of. the tank body, while the lips 29 will also yield and will conformably fit within the proper oppositely located corrugations 21, and the lip 30 will likewise conformably fit within the suitably located corrugation 22.

It will thus be clearly understood that cross partitions may. be employed-securely locatedin position within the tank body with no welding or riveting whatever, just asin the instance of the bafitle plates.

= Of course, more than one of these cross partitions may be used, and the descriptions as to the single partition are all that are necessary herein. i i

In the event p that the general equipment .and connections for the tank body are lo-' cated arbitrarily so as to preclude the for- Figure 16, there will. be spaces 31 between the cross partitioniand tank body both at the top and bottom through which the gasoline may pass.

.lVhat is claimed is :v

' 1. An airplane gas tank, comp-risingabody portion having in its opposite faces elongated imperforate. from end to end, baflle plates whose opposite sides and ends terminate in lip-likeextem sions, and end covers for the tank which have channels corresponding to those in the faces of the body but at right angles thereto, said end covers conformably fitting the ends of the body and welded thereto, while said lip-like extensions are .snu ly housed within thechannels both in the body and'intheend covers.

I 2. A- tructure as-specified in claim '1, in which the channels. are circular in cross section, while the edge terminals of, the battle of said extensions radius of the channels.

channels that extend" being greater than the aces of the In testimony whereof I afiix my signature,

hereto.

i SEYMOUR J. BAUM. 

